The Explorer 252
by Gundly
Summary: The Explorer emerged from stasis in Vault 252, year 2329. The largest vault ever built by Vailt-Tec. Housing just over 10,000 people of all ages, this vault has the most advanced technology ever made for a public vault. The Explorer labeled as number 252, of the 10,000 inside of the vault. The Explorer 252 must find out why his destiny is different than the rest of the vault.


**The Explorer 252**

**Chapter 1.**

**December 8th, 2329. 7:00 A.M.**

A loud behemoth mechanical noise erroneously started to rumble and shake the ground. Some sort of pattern could be heard and even felt after several minutes. The erratic motions began to take shape, and a loud but smooth droning noise developed. A beast has awoken. Created in the pre-war world. In a large room, 500 feet underground there lay dormant a generator that is now awakening. The first of its kind. It was designed to last at least half a millenium. Requiring little to no maintenance no manual addition of fuel it was the dream of any vault dweller. A countdown has ended, and now a vault is coming alive.

Lights flickered, pipes rumbled. The ground trembled and the air vibrated as the generator began to crank out power. Anything that could be turned on, did turn on. Computer systems, electronic systems of every kind, water systems, heating systems, and anything else. A mist was forming around levels 11 through 15. The mist was coming from stasis pods. Two thousand pods on each level. All opening in relatively the same time. The largest vault known to man has awoken. 10,000 people stuck in a deep freeze are now all emerging from their slumber. Vault 252 has come alive.

**December 8th, 2329. 7:05 A.M.**

The hissing noise of gasses escaping filled my ears. I could feel cold air crawl all over my body. What is happening? All I remember is shaking my high school principals hand as she handed me my diploma..then this. A bright light shined in my face as a lid lifted from where I was lying. My naked body instantly got goose bumps covering it. I felt an urge to be embarrassed, but due to my circumstances and confusion, I did not feel it.

Some metalic hand entered into this box I was laying in. It had a lense or screen on the end of it. I saw it do a shutter motion and a red cone of light came out of it and started to swipe over my body. I felt nothing from it, and I guessed it was some kind of scanner. Right when it got to my toes, the hand made a high pitched cherp and left. I ly there, listening. I heard another cherp, then another. All of a sudden I started to hear hundreds of cherps happening at once. I tried to lift my head, but I was unable to. I could blink my eyes, and that's about it. After five minutes of laying in the cold, a different robot arm hovered over my box. This time, it was larger. It slowly lowered its self over my body and clamped around it. Then I became weightless. With some kind of interesting and mysterious technology, I was floating in its grasp. It lifted me up about five feet over my box.

With no muscle control, it was hard for me to observe what was going on. I managed to tilt my head to the left to look at my box again, on the head of it wrote the number 252. Glancing around, I could see that I was in a very large room. Pillars supported it, and it went on for a very long time. Thousands of boxes, looking exactly like mine were all in different stages of opening. Robotic looking creatures were scanning open boxes and going to new ones. Claws were raising people from scanned boxes and all moving the bodies towards the same direction. As I was reaching the end of the room, I saw a green mist. Bodies were being lifted through it, and once I hit the mist I slowly started to lose consciousness.

**December 8th, 2329. 10:00 A.M.**

I now have woken up for a second time. Only now I was more comfortable. I lay on a bed, covered in a warm blanket and wearing some sort of one piece clothing. My pillow was soft, and I didn't want to get up. Taking one last breath before I find out what is happening, I sat up. To my left were hundreds of beds with people either sleeping, sitting up, or trying to get on their feet. The same was to my right. This hallway seemed to go on for a long time. In front of my was a window, and what looked to be another hallway just like this. I could see through what I could count 10 hallways before the windows were replaced with a solid wall.

My strength has returned to some degree, and I sat on the edge of my table. The more I looked around me, the more I realized what had been happening. Everyone looked equally as confused. We were all wearing the same blue and yellow jumpsuit with the number 252 on it. Why was 252 so significant? What could this place be? I pondered some questions as I hopped to my feet.

"Cold isn't it?" I heard a soft voice speak.

"The floor." The voice noted. I looked to my right to see a beautiful girl in similar age to me. She had blonde hair down to her shoulders, and bright green eyes. Two dimples made themselves known as she smiled at me when I looked at her.

"Yes it is." I replied, with a slight stutter. I wasn't expecting any conversation for some odd reason. My mind was firing too fast to make sense of anything, especially communication. With one foot and then the next, I slowly started to walk. It was difficult, but after several steps I got the hang of it. Using the railing to my advantage, it helped me shuffle along quite quickly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see this girl trying to follow. She was having trouble, and I had no other choice but to help her balance and walk.

"Alien, isn't it?" I ask her. She gave me a confused look, as I did to her in our brief previous conversation.

"Walking, it feels so foreign."

"Yes it does. The last thing I remember before waking up in this hallway was being at a graduation ceremony for my high school." She said with her eyes widening as more memories come back to her.

"Same with me. I was being handed my diploma by when all of a sudden I was wracked with cold." Purposefully I neglected to mention my experience waking up in the box and the robots. It didn't seem like she knew about that.

"Just in case, lets keep that between ourselves." I gave her a wink.

"My name is Katie. Katie Greenwood." She stated as she tilted her head up a bit to motion that she was proud of her name and where she came from.

"Nice to meet you Katie."

"Aren't you going to tell me yours?" With a look of faint sadness but more confusion, she asked me.

"I..I don't really remember. I only remember the graduation, and then waking up here." I said. I looked at her nervously, maybe she would think I am lying.

"I understand. Who knows what is going on, is this some kind of trick?" She asked.

"No, I don't think so. Let's move and find out what is going on." I told her. Her eyes lightened up as I grabbed her hand and pulled it towards me as I turned to walk away.

We walked for several minutes to the end of the hallway. A door with a heavy security mechanism stood before us. I saw a pad to the right and figured to press the green button on it. Interestingly enough the door opened. What was on the other side, was something that surprised me, but then I instantly knew what it was. A large auditorium with thousands of seats. Most open, people in other doors to the right of me were walking out slowly. I looked up, and saw people on balconies slowly making their way out of numerous hallways similar to the one I had just emerged from.

A hand pushed me farther into the room. It was Katies. She looked very excited about it. She took the lead and walked a little faster to one of the front rows and we sat down. We didn't say a word, but held hands as we let the rest of the people fill up the giant structure. There was an overall hush drone of speaking throughout, and after everyone seemed to be settled down, all the lights turned off and a countdown on the screen began.


End file.
